Internal Applicants Only - Finance Assistant presso Cardiff University

We are looking for a Finance Assistant to join the Finance Administration and Support Team in supporting the work of Academic & Student Support Services.

You will be one of a team of staff providing a full range of administrative support, focusing particularly on the administration of tutor salaries and payments, reconciling student payments, monitoring student loan applications and SIMS related record maintenance. We can offer you the chance to work in a vibrant organisation, with great benefits and opportunities for progression. We are a proud Living Wage supporter.

This role is eligible to be offered on a blended working basis, meaning that as well as spending time working on campus you may spend some time working from another location, e.g. your home. The University is committed to offering this flexibility, wherever the role and business need allows, supporting work-life balance. Please contact Mark Roberts ([email protected]) for an informal, confidential discussion about the role.

This post is open-ended and full-time (35 hours per week).

Salary: £25,249 - £26,093 per annum (Grade 3).

Closing date: Friday, 14 November 2025

DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

Key Duties

· Deal with a range of enquires from internal (staff & students) and external (members of the public) customers in a professional manner, establishing their needs and adapting the standard responses accordingly.

· Work with others to make recommendations for the development and improvement of current University processes and procedures.

· Create good working relationships with key contacts to help improve service levels.

· Undertake a variety of administrative duties to support the team and department.

· Gather and review data to update administrative systems such as databases and spreadsheets, making sure the information is accurate, and highlighting to your line manager basic trends and patterns.

· Actively contribute to the success of the team and support the supervision and management of it.

Specific Duties

· Take responsibility for the maintenance of student financial records on the University student information system, SIMS, reconciling payments and making any necessary adjustments and producing summary reports.

· Take responsibility for the administration of Student Loan applications, including providing information to students about the application process.

· Take responsibility for the preparation and reconciliation of the monthly tutor payroll.

· Take responsibility for reconciling and banking the daily intake.

· Process orders and supplier invoices on the University finance system, Oracle

· Manage and reconcile purchases on the department credit card

General Duties

· Abide by all University policies and undergo appropriate personal and professional development.

· Perform other duties which are not included above, but which will be consistent with the role.

· Uphold the Professional Services Values & Behaviours or local equivalent.

We want to employ people with a wide variety of experiences. We welcome applications from all sections of the community regardless of sex, ethnicity, disability, sexual orientation, trans identity, relationship status, religion or belief, caring responsibilities, or age. We are particularly seeking applications from candidates who come from backgrounds that are underrepresented at the University, including people from Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic communities.

We are looking for a team player who will work with colleagues to provide a great service to staff and students. You don’t need to have worked for a University before; this is an opportunity to show your potential and start or continue your career at Cardiff University.

This role may be an opportunity for you to build on your experience from working in a previous administrative role or environment, showing your transferable skills and potential to be successful in the role. You should be enthusiastic about developing your knowledge and skills to become a valued member of the team.

Your application will be assessed against the following essential and desirable criteria for the role. Please copy and paste this section into a new document and give clear examples of how you can evidence meeting each criteria by writing under each one. You can draw on elements from any aspect of your life (e.g. work, home, education/qualifications or community life) as long as you focus on their relevance to the role.

Please save your supporting statement in a separate document with the title [YOURNAME-BR NUMBER-JOB TITLE] and attach it to your application in the recruitment system, available here.

Please note that these are also the criteria shortlisted applicants will be assessed against at interview and/or by other means (e.g. a skills test).

Essential Criteria 

1. Ability to carry out a variety of administrative tasks, maintaining financial records to a high degree of accuracy, including writing clearly and concisely.

2. Experience of working in an administrative or office setting.

3. Experience of using common office IT packages (e.g. MS Office, e-mail etc.).

4. Ability to set up and maintain standard administrative systems and procedures, including using University systems to collate and record data online and in hard copy. (Training will be provided where required).

5. Ability to communicate with a wide range of people effectively and courteously whilst maintaining professional standards, adapting your language and style of communication depending on who you are communicating with.

6. Ability to work well with your team, knowing how to give advice, guidance and feedback (to colleagues and members of the public) as appropriate.

7. Ability to deal with requests for information or service, resolving customer issues where appropriate, or being able to escalate where necessary.

8. Ability to plan and organise your own workload within agreed timelines as set by your Line Manager.

9. Ability to use your initiative to solve problems and respond to queries, finding and proposing the best solution.

10. A willingness to undertake further training and development

Desirable Criteria

1. Experience of working in a Higher Education environment.

2. Ability to speak/understand Welsh or a willingness to learn.

HOW WE WILL SUPPORT YOU IN PERFORMING THIS ROLE

We want to support and develop you in the role, using a combination of the following to help you reach your full potential.

1. Regular one-to-one meetings with your team leader.

2. An experienced and supportive team around you.

3. Support to undertake job-relevant training and development, as identified by your Line Manager. This could be informal or could be an apprenticeship leading to a formal qualification, such as Business administration NVQ.

4. A staff mentoring scheme.

5. Support to learn Welsh or to update language skills.